Garment-fastening device.



e. W. PRENTIGE. GARMENT FASTENING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED SBPT. 19, 1908.

Patented July 5,1910.

' -2 INVENTQR.

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GEORGE WHITNEY PRENTICE, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

GARMENT-FASTENING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 5, 1910.

Application filed September 19, 1903. Serial No. 453,725.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. PRENTICE, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Providence, in the county of Prot idenoe and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garment-Fastening Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in fastening devices for garments, and it 0011- sists essentially of an integral hook member made of wire bent to a flat substantially circular form and constituting the base portion, its inner end part being bent upward to form a small loop or hook disposed in a. plane at right angles to that of the base and terminating in a free end lying normally flush or even with the underside of the base, and having the other end portion of the member extending circumferentially in front of and overlapping the adjacent part of the base for reinforcing the said hook portion.

It further consists in the combination with said hook member of a flat eye member of wire provided with attaching loops, the bight or bend of the eye adapted to be passed bodily under the free end of said ook portion and upwardly into the latter, and when in use resting upon the top of the base, all as more fully hereinafter set forth and claimed.

The object sought to be attained in my present invention is to produce an inexpensive, strong, and symmetrical hook member having its entire base portion adapted to lie flatwise upon the garment or fabric and be wholly concealed by the thread or stitches which secure it to the fabric.

Another object of the invention is to provide the member with a hook proper so ar ranged that the act of connecting or engaging an ordinary eye member therewith will cause the latter to be first pressed downwardly below the hooks free end before entering the hook, the adjacent portion of the fabric at the same time correspondingly yielding and returning to its normal position immediately thereafter, thus automatically closing and practically protecting the entrance to the hook and when in use preventing the eye from being accidentally disengaged.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, Figure 1 represents (in enlarged scale) a plan or front view of a garment fasteningdevice embodying my invention as inuse. Fig. 2 is a corresponding side or edge view, the stitches being omitted. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the main or hook member detached,

and still further enlarged. Fig. 4: repre sents a transverse sectional view of the same taken on line 4 4 of F 1g. 3. F 1g. 5 1s a corresponding side elevation, viewed in the direction of arrow at, Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to Fig. l, but showing in addition the eye member in the act of being inserted in the hook; the stitches which would be employed for securing the hook member to the fabric are for the sake of clearness omitted, and Fig. 7 is a detached sectional view similar to Fig. 4, showing a slight change in construction.

Referring again to the drawings, A designates my improved hook member as a whole and B an eye adapted to be detachably connected thereto. The member A is formed from a length of suitable wire which is bent to produce a base at having preferably asubstantially flat circular form. The inner end portion is bent abruptly at right angles to produce therein the slightly raised loop or small hook part proper I); this latter extends transversely or radially toward the center of the base, its'free end terminating in an enlargement, as 6 Figs. 3 and a, disposed in a plane common with the base. In other words the bottom or underside of the free end part is even or flush with the bottom of the base a in respect to the line 0 0, as indicated. The other end portion a of the member A extends circumferentially past and in front of the adjacent part of the base from which the hook b is formed, thus providing means for reinforcing the base at that point. The said portion a may be beveled so as to bear snugly against the corresponding part, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. In lieu of providing the member A with the extension 6 the latter may be omitted, in which event the free end of the wire leading from the inner part of the loop I) may terminate at b flush with the underside of the base, substantially as shown in Fig. 7. The eye or connecting member B is also made of wire its form being substantially the same as that of the eyes used in the well-known hookand-eye fastening devices and is provided with the usualend loops Z.

In the practical operation of my improved garment-fastening device the member A 1s secured flatwise upon the surface of a garment or fabric f, the hook portion I) being V disposed at or near one edge of the fabric.

The sewing or stitching s (Fig. 1) may eX- tend entirely around the base a and made to conceal the latter if desired. The fellow member B issecured to the other edge portion of thegarment or fabric by stitches s passing through the loops Z in the usual manner. Now, in order to engage. the members the bend or body portion of the eye B is passed over the hook I) and its extension or free end and pressed lightly upon the fabric, the latter at the same time yielding at f sufliciently (see Fig. 6) topermit the eye to be drawn under said free end portion and into the space c'of the hook,'the fabric then returning toits normal or flat posi-' tion. Fig. 2 shows the corresponding relation of the thus engaged parts.

' In my improved fastening device resiliency of the hook member Ais not relied upon to prevent the member B from being accidentally disengaged because the lower end of the part b or 6 extends below the upper surface of the base, on'which latter the eye member normally rests when in use.

There is comparatively little lost movement I or play to be provided for in engag ng or disengaging the members, thereby obviously increasing the efiiciencyof the fasten-- ing in that a correspondinglylessened over lapping. of the members is required. The construction and arrangement of the free or lower end portion of the hook part b are such that, when in use the eye B cannot become accidentally disengaged," as before stated.

It may be added thati'in lieu of the exact form represented in the drawings changes or modifications of my improved garment fastening device may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. I consider, however, as being essential elements of the device a practically flat and substantially circular or annular .base having one portion thereof bent to form a loop disposed in a plane perpendicular thereto and having the free end of the loop portion lying within the inclosed base varea and substantially parallel therewith.

I claim as my invention-- 1. In a garment-fastening device, a main holding or hook member formed from one piece of wire, said member comprising a fiatwise disposed circular base having overlapping endportions, the inner end of the Wire being bent'to form a radially arranged loop 7 lapping and engaging each other, the inner one of said end portions being bent to form a loop disposed in a )lane at right angles to the base and having its free end terminating in an enlargement whose underside normally lies substantially even or flush witlrthe bottom plane of the base.

Signed at Providence, of September 1908.

GEORGE WHITNEY PRENTICE.

R. I., thislGth day Witnesses:

FRANKLIN A. SMITH, LOUIS S. PULLEN. 

